Teen re-released on conditions

The youngest suspect in the events surrounding the shooting of a teenage drug dealer in downtown Springfield on June 11 was back in court Monday, charged with violating his court-ordered conditions of pre-trial release.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140729/NEWS02/707299941

Published July 29, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Teen re-released on conditions By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The youngest suspect in the events surrounding the shooting of a teenage drug dealer in downtown Springfield on June 11 was back in court Monday, charged with violating his court-ordered conditions of pre-trial release. Brandon Adams-Smith, 16, was re-released Monday afternoon after a contentious hearing that pitted defense attorney Cabot Teachout against Windsor County Deputy State’s Attorney David Cahill, who argued that “for his own safety” the state would like to lodge Adams-Smith at the Woodside juvenile detention center until his trial on felony burglary and aggravated assault charges. The state has requested another “emergency hearing” this afternoon in White River Junction to re-examine questions about whether Adams-Smith should continue to live with his aunt or be placed in some sort of state custody. At previous court hearings, prosecutors have described Adams-Smith as a troubled teen who has been “couch surfing” at the homes of various relatives and friends since the age of 12. Adams-Smith, who police have said is suspected of dealing drugs in the Springfield and Chester area earlier this year using the street nickname “West Side,” had been released into the custody of his aunt following his initial arraignment in June, during which he entered innocent pleas to felony charges stemming from the events of June 11. Detectives believe that two older associates of Adams-Smith, Leon Jiggetts and Jabbar Chandler, both of whom are former New Jersey residents, were incensed over rumors that were being spread that Adams-Smith had been cheating people during heroin sales. On June 11, the two men accompanied Adams-Smith to an apartment on Summer Street looking for Joseph “Black” Atkinson, 19, himself a former New Jersey resident and a convicted drug dealer. Jiggetts, who is now awaiting trial on a charge of attempted second-degree murder for allegedly shooting Atkinson once in the abdomen with a stolen .45 caliber handgun that afternoon, is being held without bail, as is Chandler, who is charged with home invasion and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for his alleged role in the same incident. On Monday afternoon, Adams-Smith pleaded innocent to a misdemeanor count of violating a condition of pre-trial release and to an additional misdemeanor count charging unlawful mischief after his father reported to police that the boy had come to his home in Chester and kicked in a door, breaking the jamb, in order to enter and retrieve his laundry. “He came in unannounced. He didn’t try to get our attention. He could have honked the horn,” his stepmother January Smith wrote in a statement filed with the court. The Smiths noted that Adams-Smith was not with his aunt even though his release conditions require him to be at her place of residence 24 hours a day with the only exceptions being for legal appointments or medical emergencies. During Monday’s hearing, Deputy State’s Attorney Cahill told Judge Karen Carroll that Adams-Smith “has very tenuous housing.” Cahill argued, “He is outside the control of Ms. Knight, as evidenced by the fact that he was out doing what he is alleged to have been doing while Ms. Knight was not present and was somewhere else.” Cahill said, “It has been the state’s intention all along to have Brandon stay at Woodside, frankly out of fears for his own safety.” Teachout countered that the current charges are only misdemeanors, which do not allow for anyone 16 to be jailed in Vermont. Teachout said, “I think we are jumping the gun at this point by talking about incarceration options.” Carroll agreed, noting that in Vermont, “Bail is to address the risk of flight or nonappearance in court. These are two misdemeanor offenses. Mr. Adams-Smith was cited to appear here today, and he showed up here today.” Noting that the parities were only 24 hours from another hearing on the matter, the judge said, “I’m not going to impose bail today, but if the court gets to a finding, either tomorrow or another day, that there is no viable place for him to live … (then) the court might consider bail.” Addressing Adams-Smith directly, Carroll said pointedly, “You need to be careful … if the court continues to see violations … then that is something that is going to land you somewhere else.”